The stones mark the graves of

19 people who

lived in Avon

in the 1800s.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

AVON – The expression “Out of sight, out of mind” doesn’t hold a lot of weight with Kurtis Bucher.

So, when the 17-year-old from Peru heard of a dilapidated backwoods cemetery in need of a little attention, like any good Boy Scout who pledges to help others, Bucher knew he’d found the perfect fixer-upper project for his Eagle Scout service project.

Now, he just needed to find the cemetery so he could start working.

Day Mountain Cemetery lies beneath dense shrubbery more than four miles off Route 4. It’s a few miles in, using a four-wheel drive on dirt logging roads. Then, it’s a half-mile walk down a rutted ATV trail, coated with a thin layer of slick ice from October through May.

Hidden in a grove of trees, 18 partly eroded stones covered in lichen join a thin wooden cross at the cemetery’s entrance to mark the graves of 19 people who lived in Avon in the 1800s.

Bucher heard about the cemetery through his father, Leon, a forester for Mead Westvaco. The paper company owned the land until it was sold this past fall.

When he finally found it, Bucher said he realized what he was getting into was no small task.

He started by clearing brush. Then he worked on cleaning graves, washing away years of black, woods’ grime. He cleared more brush. Propped up fallen stones. And made the entrance more evident.

All of the gravestones were photographed, before and after. The documentation will be turned over to the town for its records.

All in all, he made six visits, including one during the year’s first nor’easter that blanketed the stones and the already treacherous roads.

“It’s important to many people for me to be doing this work so this cemetery doesn’t just fade into the woods and have a blurred existence,” said Bucher, a basketball player and honor student at Dirigo High School.

“This shines a light on it, almost as if to say, ‘I am here. Don’t forget about me,'” he said. “It’s now nice for people who go for a visit. Even though it’s out of sight, it’s not out of mind.”

While the cemetery is spruced up, Bucher isn’t done. Between deciding which college to go to – he applied to Drexall, Clarkson and the University of Maine – playing basketball and doing his schoolwork, he’s setting up a fund and trying to raise money to build a memorial stone for the Day Mountain Cemetery.

The stone, he envisions, would be simple and tasteful and include the names of all those buried there.

He hopes fund-raising will be complete by February when he presents his project to the board of review and finds out whether he earned his Eagle Scout rank.

If he hasn’t collected enough money, the fund will be turned over and managed by the town.

Bucher is in Troop 544 based in Mexico.

“I enjoy it,” he said of scouting, noting activities and survival skills he has learned. “Now, if I am in a situation where something bad happens, I’ll be able to handle it. Keep a cool head.”

“We are all very pleased he chose to do this here,” said Joyce Potter, an Avon selectmen. “It’s a big part of this town’s history and if we lose it, it will be lost forever.”

In 2003, Avon budgeted $1,500 total for upkeep of all of its six cemeteries.

“It’s a big hand,” Potter said of Bucher’s efforts. “And it’s a big help.”

To make a donation for the memorial stone at Day Mountain Cemetery, people can contact Bucher at 562-8288 or send checks in care of Bucher and Troop 544 at P.O. Box 49, Peru Maine, 04290.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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